Consecrated
The Israelites were on the cusp of entering the Promise Land. After 40 years of wandering in the desert which followed 400 years of slavery, they were finally about to receive the promise that God had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And what does Joshua tell the people of Israel to do before God performs the miraculous wonders among them? Joshua tells the people to consecrate themselves. Consecration is the act of setting apart or making holy. In Leviticus 20:26, God says to the Israelites, “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” God consecrated the nation of Israel for Himself. He set them apart. He also required them separate themselves from the other people around them. Jesus spoke a similar word to the disciples in John 15:19 when He said, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Once again, we see the picture of Jesus setting them apart from the rest of the world. Paul makes a similar charge to Christians in Romans 12:2 when he says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Peter, too, makes a similar charge in 1 Peter 1:13-15 when he says, “13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” God desires to do tremendous wonders among us, but we too must first consecrate ourselves. We need to be holy as He is holy. Any part of ourselves that we keep attached to the world is not being set apart for him. When we consecrate ourselves, setting ourselves apart, we become vessels that God can work through. Paul presents this thought in Timothy 2:20, 21 when he says, “20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
Raised Up
In Joshua 3:7 we read, “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.’” If we fast-forward to after the Israelites cross the Jordan river, we read in Joshua 4:14, “On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.” Unsurprisingly, we see yet another example of God making a promise and then fulfilling the promise. It’s unsurprising because God always fulfills His promises. What I found interesting here though is what actually happened. I want to use Tim Tebow to make my point here. Recently there has been a lot of hype around Tebow’s life and faith in Christ. In fact, it has been so hyped that while rifling through articles about Super Bowl XLVI on Sports Illustrated’s website, I came across this article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/more/wires/02/01/2080.ap.us.tebow.prosperity.preacher.1st.ld.writethru.0310/index.html. That’s right, a sports website had an article about Tebow canceling a speaking engagement at a controversial pastor’s church. What does that have to do with sports? Nothing. But Tim Tebow has become a compelling figure in our nation. My brother-in-law has an eager desire to learn about Christianity because he is in awe with what Tebow is doing. Yet, amidst the discussions, I’ve heard more than one Christian bothered by the publicity that Tebow has gotten, saying things like, “He’s just a man.” Is it that simple though? In this portion of Joshua, I believe that we clearly see that God allows certain people to be raised up. In Joshua’s case, the people stood in awe of him. And God was not only okay with it, He caused it to happen. Why was God okay with someone else being exalted? Because He was still getting the glory. I think the same case could be made for Tebow. Why is everyone making a big deal out of Tim Tebow and not fellow Christian quarterback Aaron Rodgers? Maybe it’s as simple as this: because God has raised him up. I am not saying that this is definitely the answer, but I’m just not sure why more people don’t think of it as a reasonable possibility. I think that we can struggle with what true humility is sometimes. We view it as pride when someone is exalted. But it’s only pride if someone exalts himself or tries to take the glory for himself. Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge Tim Tebow.
Step of Faith
I think we can learn a lot from Joshua 3:15, 16 which reads, “15 and soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.” God had told the people the plan. God told Joshua that the priests needed to step into the Jordan in Joshua 3:8. Joshua relayed the plan to the people in Joshua 3:13. It is here in Joshua 3:15, 16 that we see the plan in action. Think about it though. Joshua goes out of the way to tell us that the Jordan was overflowing. The waters were raging. Stepping into a raging river would have taken some guts. It would have taken some faith. And yet the priests didn’t hesitate. They stepped in. God did not stop the river until they stepped in. They had to take that step of faith. In the same way, there are many times in our lives when God is waiting for us to take a specific step of faith before He moves. We need to be listening to what He tells us and obey when we hear it. Polly and I don’t have a lot of money. Some weeks we are barely squeaking by. We live on a budget. Yet the one thing we don’t budget is giving. We believe that if God tells us to give, then He is going to provide. This has worked to us to this point in our lives. We see no reason why it should stop. We need to be obedient to take the steps of faith that God commands us to.
Dry Ground
What a miracle! Not only did the Israelites cross through a river bed that had been plugged up, but the ground they were walking on was dry (Joshua 3:17). Think about how amazing this truly is. If you had the capability of stopping a river, I will guarantee you that the river bed will still be wet for quite some time. God is awesome!
Memorial
Joshua 4 tells us about Joshua’s command to the twelve tribes to each get a stone from the midst of the Jordan River while it was still blocked from flowing. Joshua told them to set them up as a memorial to stand for all generations to remember the miracle that God had performed for them. The rocks served as evidence that God had actually done what they claimed. They were likely big rocks that would have had to have come from the river. People didn’t have scuba gear back then. River stones would have been pretty compelling evidence. But the rocks didn’t only serve as proof to others (including future generations) that God had performed a miracle. The rocks also served as a reminder to those who passed through the Jordan on dry ground. I believe that we can learn a valuable lesson here. God performs miracles in all of our lives. All Christians have examples of times where God answered a prayer or came through with a miracle. I believe that it’s important for us to memorialize those things. We can do this in many ways. I think journaling might be the most beneficial way. But regardless how we do it, I think we need to do it. I think it’s important for us to remember what God has done. When we memorialize those moments in life, they serve as a witness to others and also as a reminder of God’s faithfulness to us. I know that when I hit a rough patch in life and want to give up, I think back to all the times that God has come through before. When we remember God’s times of faithfulness, it reminds us how capable He is to meet all of our needs.
